Includes correspondence, interview transcripts, notes, draft manuscripts, photographs, illustrations, promotional materials, reviews and other material related to Miller's 2002 book. (See also Series 3 for original audiotape interviews of many of the graffiti "writers" featured in the book.) This series is largely unsorted.

Transcripts from first interviews

1988-1990

Box 1: folder 1

Transcripts from latest interviews

1999-2001

Box 1: folder 2

Draft manuscript of Aerosol Kingdom

1992 Sep

Box 1: folder 3

Draft manuscript of Aerosol Kingdom

1996 November

Box 1: folder 4

Draft manuscript of Aerosol Kingdom

2001 June 6

Box 1: folder 5

Draft manuscript of Aerosol Kingdom, (early proof copy from the University Press of Mississippi).

Crash / bringing it to the masses / 1978-2003 - a collection of installations, paintings, and drawings spanning three decades (booklet)

[2003]

Box 2: folder 6

Series 2: Research Materials on Cuba and Abakuá Society

1900-2015 (bulk 1975-2005)

This series consists of a variety of research materials related to Miller's study of the linguistic, musical, and religious influence of West African Ekpe society (predominantly in Nigeria and Cameroon) on the Cuban Abakuá Society, which was founded in 1830. (See also Series 3 for original audio and video interviews related to this research.) This series is largely unsorted.

Authorizations for Santería ceremonies during the Cuban Revolution. Contains official permission slips from the PNR (Revolutionary National Police). These were applied for by leaders of Santería communities in Cuba in order to hold authorized Santería ceremonies during the Cuban Revolution. I collected these during the course of my dissertation research from people I interviewed.

Contents as described by Ivor Miller in 2003:

1) Permission for a Santería initiation on 17 October. 1987 in Parraga, on the outskirts of Havana, Francisca Lopez Zaldivar being the applicant. [I used her testimony in my article "Religious Symbolism in Cuban Politics", TDR.]

2) Permission for a "religious feast" in October 1989 in Jovallanos, Matanzas, Saturnina Angarica Solar being the applicant. The feast included drum playing, and the sacrifice of goats and rams. [I am writing a book about this family, very famous in Cuban Santería traditions].

3) Permission for a Santería ceremony called Lucumi food for the saint, meaning animal sacrifice, in 15 April 1975, Francisca Lopez Zaldivar being the applicant.

4) Permission for a "traditional feast" in October 1988 in Jovallanos, Matanzas, Saturnina Angarica Solar being the applicant. Note that for the second feast on 23 October, 500 people are expected. I have a video of one of these ceremonies in the collection.

5) Permission for a Santería initiation of two people in July 1987 in Carlos Rojas, Matanzas, Saturnina Angarica Solar being the applicant. The ceremony included the sacrifice of animals with four legs, birds, and drumming.

6) Permission for a "Güiro playing ceremony" on 28 December 1988 in Parraga, on the outskirts of Havana, Francisca Lopez Zaldivar being the applicant. Güiro is a calabash gourd, dried and hollowed, with beads around it for sound. It is a sacred Santería instrument mythically associated with Ochún, Yoruba goddess of sweet water, love, beauty.

1975-1989

Box 2: folder 7

DePaul University conference organized by I. Miller: "Recreating Africa in the Americas": review

2003

Box 2: folder 8

DePaul University conference: "Recreating Africa in the Americas": poster for conference

2003 Apr

Box OS-1: folder 5

"No More Carnivals: Cuba's Struggle to survive its economic crisis." Article by Ivor Miller in International Forum at Yale (vol. 12, no. 1).

One copy of MOFINews, published by the Minister of Finance, Cross River State, Nigeria, with a photo of the two Cubans during the Christmas Celebrations, p. 36.

One copy of Insider News, published in Lagos, with an essay citing Ivor Miller, regarding British art historian Keith Nicklin, whose memorial statue was erected at the Oron Museum.

One copy of the Saturday Sun, vol. 2, no. 92, October 16, 2004, with a photo of Ivor Miller dressed in Ekpe chieftaincy regalia. The article is an interview with Etubom Bassey Ekpo Bassey, journalist, and head of a Calabar lodge that initiated Miller.

One copy of the Weekend Chronicle of Calabar, Saturday, February 26, 2005, announcing the proposed visit of a Cuban Abakuá, claiming to be Obong (paramount ruler) of Cuba, p. 1-2.

Four letters from Ivor Miller regarding the trip: to the Governor of Cross River State (March 1 and March 10); the Minister of Culture, Nigeria (March 14); the Head of UNESCO, Nigeria (March 14).

Letter to the Governor of Cross River State reviewing Miller's activities in Nigeria with the two Cubans (January 29, 2005).

Program from the Governor's office, Cross River State, about the Cuban participation on December 20, 2004.

"How I went to Calabar and became an Ekpe Ambassador to the Cuban Abakuá Brotherhood." Article by Ivor Miller in WARA Newsletter (Newsletter of the West African Research Association), Spring 2005.

2003-2005

Box 2: folder 13

"Los Ñáñigos, cómo nacieron, su objeto, sus ceremonias" by Domingo Blanco. In: Alrededor del Mundo (Reproduced as two frames on a microfilm strip). Rare article on Abakuá, found in the archives of the Auyntamiento de Madrid, Spain.

"Jesús Pérez and the Transformation of the Cuban Batá Drum" by Ivor Miller. Dialogo

2003 Spring

Box 2: folder 16

Photograph of musicians at the Cabaret San Souci, Havana (Jesús Pérez)

ca. 1955-1956

Box 2: folder 17

"The Formation of African Identities in the Americas: Spiritual 'Ethnicity'" by Ivor Miller. Contours 2:2.

2004 Fall

Box 2: folder 18

REGI Radio interview: Ivor Miller speaks with host Eugene Godfried about his research with African Ekpe and Cuban Abakuá, as well as the important role of Abakuá lodges inthe defending their members from slavery, and as rebel cells during the struggle for Cuban independence. MP3 recording on CD; also available through www.regiradio.org.

2006 Dec 14

Box 2: folder 19

Letter from Bassey E. Bassey to Ivor Miller accompanying the forward he wrote to The Voice of the Leopard.

2006 Feb 27

Box 2: folder 20

"African Brotherhood." Five page print of the forward by Bassey E. Bassey for the book Voice of the Leopard.

Letter of authorization from Engr (Chief) Bassey E. Bassey for the use of archival photographs for publication.

Box 2: folder 20

"Preservation of a people. Preservation of a culture." 4th annual fundraising evening, Efik national association inc. Program from the first encounter between Calabar Ekpe and Cuban Abakuá representatives, held in New York City. It lists: "Efik Cuban Abakua Performance by Ramon [sic] Diaz Anaya Group."

Letter from Dr. Helen Hornbeck Tanner accompanying her editing remarks on the transcripts of her interview with Ivor Miller. This material was the basis for the publication: "The genesis of African and Indian cooperation in colonial North America: An Interview with Helen Hornbeck Tanner." Ethnohistory Quarterly. 56.2 (Spring).

2004 Apr 9

Box 2: folder 20

WARA Newsletter containing Miller's essay "How I went to Calabar and became an Ékpè Ambassador to the Cuban Abakuá." WARA Newsletter. West African Research Association, Spring 2005: 11-13.

2005 Spring

Box 2: folder 20

CBMR Digest. Vol. 18, no. 1. Center for Black Music Research Columbia College Chicago. Announcement of Miller and Yvonne Daniel as Rockefeller Fellows for 2005-06.

2005 Spring

Box 2: folder 20

Alton Augustus Adams Music Research Institute, Center for Black Music Research, Columbia College Chicago, St. Thomas, Virgin Islands. Program for the Rockefeller Research Colloquium, with Africanist Dr. Victor Manfredi, percussionist Roman Diaz-Anaya, and Miller as presenters.

2006 May 12-13

Box 2: folder 20

Letter to Miller from Professor Louis A. PÉrez, The University of North Carolina, regarding the absence of evidence of Abakuá presence in Florida.

2004 Feb 25

Box 2: folder 20

Letter to Miller from Professor Louis A. PÉrez, The University of North Carolina, regarding the historic and linguistic relationship between the barrio Cayo Hueso of Havana and Key West in Florida.

2006 Apr 19

Box 2: folder 20

Email message to Miller from Professor Susan Greenbaum regarding the lack of evidence of Abakuá presence in Tampa, Florida.

2004 Mar 3

Box 2: folder 20

Letter to Miller from artist Houston Conwill regarding the caption for his work "Rivers", "designed as a memorial tribute enclosing the cremated remains of Harlem Renaissance poet Langston Hughes." The work is installed in the ground floor hallway of the Schomburg Center in Harlem.

2000 Oct

Box 2: folder 20

Letter to Miller from Pierre Verger (Salvador) regarding his photographs of Abakuá themes taken in Havana at the 'finca San JosÉ' where Lydia Cabrera lived in the 1950s (in the barrio of Pogolotti)

1995 May 25

Box 2: folder 20

Program and flyer for Miller's presentation "Orthodoxy within Adaptability: Leopard society music, language, and aesthetics in West Africa, Western Cuba, and New York City," Chicago.

2006 May 24

Box 2: folder 20

Five pages of letters and images sent to Miller by Stetson Kennedy (1916-2011), a writer and folklorist in Florida who, as a participant in the WPA Florida Writers' Project in the late 1930s, had written pioneering essays on the Abakuá presence in Florida. February 21, 25 & March 16, 2002. Included is a photocopy of a Chinese lottery sign with the lottery numbers and their signs as still used in Cuba (1892), and an image of "Manungo's Diablito Dancers", which turns out to depict Puerto Rican Vejigante masks, not Cuban Abakuá masks.

2002 Feb-Mar

Box 2: folder 20

Program from the Caribbean Cultural Center African Diaspora Institute (CCCADI) in New York City, listing a presentation by Miller with Roman DÃ­az, on Central African influence in Cuba.

2009 Jul 23

Box 2: folder 20

Program from City Lore, in collaboration with Hostos Center for the Arts & Culture, of an event on "Sacred Drumming Traditions of Cuba, the Dominican Republic, Haiti and Puerto Rico." Presentation by Miller on Abakuá and Palo Monte of Cuba.

2009 Apr 25

Box 2: folder 20

Joes's Pub, New York City flyer, with announcement of "Enyenison Enkama" CD release party with Miller, Roman Diaz, Angel Guerrero, and Pedro Martinez. This CD was a response to the Ekpe-Abakua performances in Paris in 2007.

2009 Sep 5

Box 2: folder 20

Eng. Bassey. 20 pages of Abakuá language with comments by Eng. Bassey, an Ekpe chief from Calabar, regarding his understandings of their possible sources in the Calabar region.

Map (4 copies): "Map Shewing the Cross River Basin and South-Western Cameroun Indicating the History of Ekpe in the 18th and 19th Centuries" by Aniyom (1:250,000)

[2008]

Box
Tube1

Essay: "Ekpe songs from the Cross River" (62 p.), with comments in red pen by "High Chief Dr. Emmanuel Nsan," who signed his work on the last page. [acc. #2014.019]

2013 Feb 27

Box 2: folder 21a

Note from Chief Eteng TaTa Ikpi of Ugep, Yakurr L.G.A., Cross River State, Nigeria in praise of Miller's book Voice of the Leopard [acc. #2014.019]

2010 Nov

Box 2: folder 21b

Letter from H.R.H. Attah Charles Ikum Ujong, the 'Attah' (Clan Head) of the Agoi-Ibami community of Yakurr L.G.A., Cross River State, Nigeria, announcing his support of Miller's intention to create a documentary film on the Ekpe 'leopard' society displays of the community [acc. #2014.019]

2010

Box 2: folder 21b

Letter from Mr. Nasako Besingi of Mundemba, Ndian Division, S.W. Cameroon, to the "Nasako Brethren in Cuba" in recognition of their mutual family and cultural heritage. The letter salutes the Nasakos of Cuba and invites them to their annual Nasako Festival in Cameroon. [acc. #2014.019]

2013

Box 2: folder 21b

Two photographs the size of business cards that announce the names of new Abakua lodges, both created in 2014, in Matanzas and Havana, Cuba. One reads: "Potencia Efi Barondi Cama. Invita: Baroco Nillao. Dia 11-01-2014, Templo de Uriabon Itia Fondoba." The other reads: "Efi Cuna Yarabia Itia Colomban Anandiba Biorama Bongo Endeme Obane Ekue Barondi Kama." These cards were handed out to participants in the foundation ceremonies to announce the act. [acc. #2014.019]

Box 2: folder 21b

Dayeom Blanco Ordaz, drawing in ball point blue ink and colored pencil entitled 'Obonekue Makaro Mofe,' dedicated to "Igor [sic] Miller June 6, 2014" in Havana. The drawing says 'Isue Makaro Mofe Efo Taiba, 1949', and depicts a circle with a burning sun on the right, with a crescent moon on the left, and the triangle signature of the Isue dignitary of the Abakua society. [#2014.044]

2014 Jun 6

Box 2: folder 21c

Transcript of Miller's interview with Engineer Bassey Efiom Bassey in Calabar (2013) about Efik history. The written comments are Bassey's, who is adding to or deleting aspects of the transcript. This document shows an important aspect of Miller's research with local experts. [#2014.044]

2013

Box 2: folder 21c

Printed matter related to Miller's current research in Nigeria and Cameroon [acc. #2015.058]

2015

Box 2: folder 21d

Series 3: Audio and Video Recordings

1991-2003

More than 400 recordings of interviews and music by Ivor Miller in Africa, Cuba and the United States. The majority are on audiocassette, but there are also several videotapes, most of which have also been copied as DVDs. NOTE: videotapes and DVDs may be viewed but not reproduced.) The recordings are interviews with Afro-Cuban research subjects, Cuban music, as well as interviews with graffiti artists for his book Aerosol Kingdom. The tapes are not arranged in any consistent order.

Diss. Research. Authoritative Santería leader, claims to have known babalawo who gave Fidel Castro initiation.

1995 Jul 13

Box T1: folder 19

Jimenez-Saez, Rejino

1994 Dec 27

Box T1: folder 20

Yerbero en Havana vieja, Rosa "la yerbera" and then her son in law. During the crisis of the Special Period, many Cubans went to "green medicine" for cures. These are commonly based upon use of herbs derived from African inheritance in Santeria and Palo Monte.

Frometa, Hilda (5 minutes). Romeros, Kuky (Chicago). Knew former President F. Batista and his madrina. Romero was part of a Chicago Santeria community with a strong trans-sexual presence. Dissertation research.

Zaldivar, Francisca Lopez (1993 Aug 11). Tape 2. Maria de los Angeles (La China). Claims to be a descendant of a "Yoruba prince" who had Chango made in Cienfuegos. This is a real historical figure who was featured in Professor H.L. Gate's documentary "Blacks in Latin America" (2011).

1993 Aug 11

Box T1: folder 35

Febles, Euseria (Juan).

1994 Jun 23

Box T1: folder 36

Febles, Ramoncito.

1995 Mar 19

Box T2: folder 37

Ortiz, Manuel. Oni Chango. Ahijado de Tata Gaitan; Father of Tere Ortiz; 76 years old. This is a famous character in Havana Santeria ceremonies, known as "Changó platano", because each time he was 'mounted' by Changó, he would dance for hours with a huge branch of green plantains on his head. Ortiz's family is central to Santeria practice in Havana.

1993 Aug 24

Box T2: folder 38

Jimenez, Regino.

1995 Nov 10

Box T2: folder 39

Sanchez, Luis and Gustavo Díaz Físs.

1996 Jan 11

Box T2: folder 40

Jimenez, Marina Mesa. Widow of Blayo, an important babalawo who greeted the Ooni of Ife in 1987 during his to Havana, and who documented an unpublished history of Ifa in Cuba.

1995 Nov 16

Box T2: folder 41

María Teresa Lináres, musicologist

1995 Nov 18

Box T2: folder 41

Jimenez, Regino; Jesus Perez, revision of earlier interview.

1996 May 3

Box T2: folder 42

Roberto Yeyo de Bejucal.

1994 Dec 24

Box T2: folder 43

Merrera, Zeida.

1995 Jul 19

Box T2: folder 44

Hernandez, Pedro

1995 Jul 17

Box T2: folder 45

Robaina, Tomas Fernandez. 'Ogun Foyu' is his Santeria name. Son of Ogun. Author and Bibliographer at the National Library.

1993 Mar 25

Box T2: folder 46

Fernandez, Tomas. Gays in Santeria.

1993 Dec 12

Box T2: folder 47

Daubar, Edmundo. My neighbor in barrio de Colon, director of the Casa de Tango. Carlos Gardel was his 'patron saint.' He had a gift for word play.

Santero, NYC. Recorded in the home of Felipe Villamil in Bronx. Miguel Piaz del Nodal, a santero in NYC, b. 1926, remembers white Cubans who secretly believed in the African-derived traditions of Cuba. Appears not to have been transcribed.

1993 Jul 8

Box T3: folder 90

Alsar, Juan Carlos. Día de Elegua. Sr. Alsar is a painter focused on Cuban spiritual themes. He migrated to Miami in the 1990s (Havana).

1993 Jun 13

Box T3: folder 91

Gonzalez, Eladio "El Chino." Recorded in his Chicago apartment. An artist, known for his bronze sculptures, originally from Matanzas.

1994 Jul 13

Box T3: folder 92

Namer, Janet. "Obba ylory" (Santeria name). A "daughter" of Changó, Janet grew up in Havana, and always wanted a sex change, which is not done in Cuba. Only after migration to the USA, and after receiving Permission through divination with Changó, was Janet allowed to have the operation.

1994 Jul 22

Box T3: folder 93

Namer, Janet (Chicago).

1994 Jul 9

Box T3: folder 94

Hans, Pedro "Obeyona" (Havana).

1993 Jul 28

Box T3: folder 95

Díaz, Pedro. Father of my former wife. Died in 2002, Tampa Fla. Of Puerto Rican heritage, lived in Guantanamo, Cuba all his life until migrating to the USA in the 1990s. Speaks about the rebel tradition in Oriente, Cuba.

Jimenez, Olga Susana Moret - la Tamalera. Olga is a legendary figure in Havana, because of a song about her called "olga la tamalera" (1993 Aug 18). She is a priestess of Oya, and speaks of her ancestry. (Years later, I learned that another woman, claiming to be the "real" Olga la tamalera, lives in barrio de Atares.) Diaz, Pedro (1993 Aug 20).

Granados, Dr. Alvaro H. Castellanos and Dr. Julio V. Casa Viqueira. Two doctors who spoke about current use of green medicine in response to economic crisis. Alvaro was from Colombia and in Cuba for training.

Vulcan. DePaul University. Vulcan gave a slide show in my Hip Hop class, which I recorded and my student Kendall Johnson-Smith transcribed. [Outtakes of this appeared in Black Renaissance, vol. 6, no. 1 2004, p. 156-165.]

2003 Feb 28

Box T9: folder 318

Vulcan and Aerosol Kingdom book signing (1 Hi-8 video cassette) [2003-040] this is the same presentation as cassette tape #318. (DePaul University, Chicago.)

Abimbola, Wande. Interviews with Dr. Abimbola, former visiting Professor at Amherst College, and Copeland fellow as well. These interviews were the basis for the book we self-published in 1997: Ifa Will Mend Our Broken World. My aim in this work was to evaluate Cuban popular religion of African-derivation with a master of the Yoruba divination traditions from West Africa. His life history. religion and politics in Africa. He chants Ijala at end of side B.

1997 Apr 16

Box T9: folder 325

Abimbola, Wande. World Orisha conference. Tata Gaitan - name of a 20th century Cuban babalawo.

1996 Dec 18

Box T9: folder 326

Abimbola, Wande.

1997 Apr 5

Box T9: folder 327

Abimbola, Wande.

1997 May 19

Box T9: folder 328

Abimbola, Wande. Cuban Lukumi.

1997 Jun 6

Box T9: folder 329

Abimbola, Wande. Public lecture at Vassar College, where I was currently visiting professor of religion. Ifa chants on side B.

1997 Apr 15

Box T10: folder 330

Master tape of a mix made for Ivor Miller by Phase 2, "A tribute to Kool Herc."

Tanner, Helen. Dr. Tanner (d. 2011) was a senior researcher at the Newberry Library. At home in Beulah, Michigan, she spoke about her 40 years of experience with Native American communities, and the early African influence in these communities. This material was the basis for the publication "The genesis of African and Indian cooperation in colonial North America: An Interview with Helen Hornbeck Tanner." Ethnohistory Quarterly. 56.2 (Spring). Themes: concepts of 'tribe'; black Seminoles; secret societies; inter-connected civilizations of Native Americans.

2002 Nov 10

Box T12: folder 420

Amram, David. (Side B only - side A is an unrelated music recording). Amram is a composer and world- renowned jazz improviser who worked with Jack Kerouac, Dizzy Gillespie, and other giants. Here he speaks about the Cuban influence in American popular music, mainly Jazz, and recounts his historic trip to Cuba in 1977 as part of the Jazz Cruise with Gillespie, where they recorded a concert with Los Papines.

Moso - Grupo Güiro. Interview with father and son in Regla, Havana. This group was recorded on the Smithsonian Folkways tape 1994, as well as the Musica Afro-Cubana disco in Cuba. The group's name is: Conjunto de Güiro San Cristóbal de Regla de René Robaina. Director: Andrés Balaez. Cantante: Vladimir O'Farril. Perdomo No. 455 e/ Adriano y Tejedor (Regla).

A variety of articles related to Miller's (mostly early) scholarly research in black and Latin American cultural studies. Arranged chiefly in chronological order.

"'If It Hasn't Been One of Color': An Interview with Ray DeCarava" by Ivor Miller. Callaloo 13, no. 4 (see Series 3, tapes 321-322).

1990 Fall

Box 2: folder 19

Papers from the video project 'Dance on the Wind, co-produced by Ivor Miller. Includes the Judge's Special Merit Award, 1993 New England Film Video Festival, notes by Eno Washington for the project, and the working script.

Bound typescript: "Ifá WILL MEND OUR BROKEN WORLD: Thoughts on Yorùbá Religion and Culture in Africa and the Diaspora" by Wándé Abimbola; interviews and introduction by Ivor Miller.

1997

Box 2: folder 24

Series 5: Cuban LP Record Albums, ca.

1940-1990

Over 200 vinyl disk music recordings made and produced predominantly in Cuba and largely unavailable in the United States. Most are 33 1/3 r.p.m., but several 45 r.p.m. disks are also included. Some LP jackets contain more than one disk.

Restrictions on access:

NOTE: Playback of original LPs is restricted for preservation reasons; researchers wishing to listen to the recordings may ask that a CD copy be made.